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The Master Plan in Globalization
If we observe a consistent pattern in how God works through history,
it is that He scatters His people. Since Abraham’s call to leave his
homeland, most major characters in the bible are scattered: citing just a
few examples, Joseph to Egypt, and Daniel in the high courts of Babylon.
Individuals are not the only ones being scattered, but families and entire
nations in a period ranging from a few months, years, to several
generations. Israel, as an entire nation, is scattered; the exodus from
Egypt can be described as the search for a homeland for the wandering
people of God. The pilgrimage, however, does not end in the Promised Land.
There are many exiles yet to come out of Israel, such as the one in
Babylon. In the New Testament, the Holy Spirit scattered the early
Christian community through forced persecutions. The Apostle Paul is the
personification of this process, perhaps the most global among the
followers of Jesus. Why does God scatter His people? There are least a
couple of reasons: it is the best way to “incarnate” His message through
His sons and daughters around the world, as well as a discipleship process
for those whom He call as His own. It greatly increases their dependence on
God as pilgrims in strange and uncertain lands.
This habit of God, of scattering, did not stop in the New Testament.
There were several missionary movements after Paul. One in particular, the
beginning of protestant missions, started vis-à-vis with colonialism,
brought modern medicine and education (but, unfortunately, also warships
and canons) to remote corners of the earth. Missions as an institution have
continued since then, from the pioneer works of William Carey in India,
Underwood in Korea, to the modern martyrs such as the missionaries shot
down by the Peruvian air force earlier last year. Although there are modern
critics, Christian and non-Christian, who voice that missionary work is
becoming irrelevant, and many ask why to focus on foreign missions when
there are so much “local” needs, the formalization of this scattering
process started with Carey remains as a noble institution. God still uses
this form of scattering for His Kingdom in powerful ways. Moreover,
missions mobilization, be it short-term or long-term, is a local activity,
a process which disciples the church sending its missionaries.
This does not mean, however, that missionary work (i.e. the activity
linking the church and the formalization of God’s scattering process) as we
know today, need to remain static. If we observe history with a Christian
eye, we can note that God habitually uses political and economic forces of
the times to scatter His people, as it can be seen through the large number
of missionaries sent out during the colonial era, and other biblical
examples where political forces led Israel into exile. Globalization could
be a vehicle where God would scatter His people in our times. To simplify,
globalization can be defined by three “impetus”: the triumph of the free-
market doctrine, technological advances (especially in information), and,
due to these pressures, the new rise in human flow across the world. It is
this aspect, human movement, which could be applied more directly to the
body of Christ. The increase flow of people create opportunities for
Christians around the world to scatter, through global companies,
international organizations, charity or faith-based groups, and still
through traditional missionary methods. Here are a few ways in how such a
“Global Christian” could uniquely participate in the advancement of the
Kingdom: (a) share the gospels and disciple leaders where traditional entry
of Christian missions is difficult, such as in Muslim nations, (b) serve as
a “change agents” in unjust social systems; the mere entry of someone novel
in a system usually increases receptivity to change, and© diffusion of
experiences and methodologies among the worldwide body of Christ. Much like
how the modern missionary movement started by taking advantage of
opportunities provided by the global pressures of the time (i.e.
Colonialism), the international body of Christ could take advantage of
opportunities offered by Globalization.
The challenges facing Christian communities around the world today are
nothing less than daunting. Much like Apostle Paul, Christians must feel
the spiritual urgency, where statistically most people in the world
(especially in China, but also in extreme places like North Korea) have yet
to experience the Gospels. Moreover, much like how God spoke through the
prophet Amos, Christians cannot help but to feel God’s heartbit in major
social injustices of our day. To cite a few: child slavery as debt
guarantees in India, 2 billion people earning less than $1 a day, and the
extermination of an entire generation by AIDS in several African countries.
If Christians become faithful to the difficult call of God to scatter, they
have today an opportunity to witness how the Spirit of God would uniquely
move in our generation.
By Kwang Kim (kwang_kim@hotmail.com)
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